“A FEW SPICES AND A SPICED UP LIFE”

JOHN 20:1-18

28:1  After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

2  And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

3  His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

4  For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.

5  But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.

6  He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

7  Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you."

8  So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

9  Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.

10  Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

March Madness has begun.   March Madness, that’s what they call the NCAA basketball tournament that will eventually lead us to the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight and the Final Four before a national champion is crowned sometime early next month.  A lot of people find March Madness exciting; especially if they’re participating in one of bracket pools.  

We all need a little excitement in our lives.  When your team wins it’s exciting.  When you win the lottery it’s exciting.  When you get a promotion it’s exciting.  When you buy a new car it’s exciting.  What would life be without those emotional highs?  A church secretary experienced one of those emotional highs when a man called with an unusual request.  “Howdy,” the man said. “I want to speak to the head hog at the trough.”  The church secretary wasn’t sure she had heard him correctly.  “Excuse me,” she said.  “Who did you say you want to speak to?”  The man repeated himself.  “I want to speak to the head hog at the trough.”  At that point the church secretary became a little indignant.  “Sir,” she said, “if you’re referring to our minister you need to treat him with a little more respect.  You can call him the reverend or the pastor but you most certainly cannot refer to him as the head hog at the trough.”  There was a moment of silence.  “Oh,” the man said. “I’m sorry.  I just wanted to talk to him because I was thinking of donating $250,000 to the church’s building fund.”  “Oh,” the secretary exclaimed.  “Hold on I think the big pig just walked in the door.” 

What would life be without those moments of excitement?  What would life be without those emotional highs?  I’ll tell you what life would be like.  It would be pretty boring and bland.  It would be pretty dull and drab.   

We all need a those moments of excitement that can add a little spice in our lives.  I’ve got some news for you though.  The joy that comes from March Madness or that winning scratch ticket or that promotion or that new car isn’t going to last very long.  It isn’t going to fill your heart with a joy that lasts.  It isn’t going to fill your heart with a joy that makes life worth living.

The joy that lasts and makes life worth living will only be found in the risen Jesus.  Just look at what happened to the women when they went to the tomb that morning.  They went to the tomb with tears in their eyes and they left the tomb with tears in their eyes.  The difference though is that those weren’t tears of sadness in their eyes when they left.  Those were tears of joy.  Those tears were tears of joy.  They saw the empty tomb.  They heard the voice of the risen Jesus and then they ran with great joy to tell the disciples the good news.  Actually, this wasn’t just good news.  This was great news.

When was the last time you had an encounter with the risen Jesus like that?  When was the last time you felt that he was right beside you?  When was the last time you sensed that he was speaking to you or working through you?

Some people feel like he’s with them all the time.  Some people on the other hand aren’t sure if he’s really there at all.  They feel a little like the man who was walking home one morning when he came upon a preacher who was baptizing people in a river.  Unfortunately, the man was coming home after a night of drinking and dancing.  So, his eyes were a little bloodshot and he wasn’t all that steady of his feet. When the preacher saw the man he called to him from the river.  “Brother,” he said, “do you want to find Jesus?”   The man nodded his head.  “I sure do,” he said.  In no time at all the man was standing in the river.  The preacher quickly said a prayer and then pushed the man’s head under the water.  A few seconds later the preacher pulled him back up and asked him, “Brother, did you find Jesus?”  “No, I didn’t,” the man replied. That wasn’t what the preacher wanted to hear of course.  So, he pushed the man’s head under the water again and this time he held him under a little longer.  As soon as the preacher pulled him back up he asked him again, “Brother, did you find Jesus?”  Once again the man said, “No.”  Now the preacher was really getting frustrated.  So, the preacher pushed the man’s head under the water again and this time he held it under unit the man started to gasp for air.  The man was kicking his feet and swinging his arms around wildly.  Finally, the preacher pulled him back up and shouted, “Brother I’m going to ask you one more time.  Did you find Jesus?”  “No,” the man said as he continued to gasped for air, “but are you sure this is where he fell in?”

If it’s been a while since you’ve seen or sensed the risen Christ with you don’t despair.  It’s easy to find him and experience the excitement and the joy that the women experienced that morning.  The key is to look at why the women went to the tomb that morning and why the disciples didn’t.   

The disciples didn’t go to the tomb that morning because they were off hiding in a room somewhere.  They were off hiding in a room somewhere feeling sorry for themselves.  They thought that Jesus was going to lead them to victory against the Romans and that they were going to be rich and famous. What were they going to do now that he was gone?  Poor Peter.  Poor Andrew.  Poor James and John.  Poor Nathaniel.  Poor Philip.  Poor Bartholomew.

Instead of feeling sorry for themselves the women went to the tomb that morning.  Now they didn’t go to the tomb because they didn’t have anything better to do.  They went to the tomb with spices to anoint the body of this man who had touched their hearts and changed their lives.  They went to the tomb with spices to anoint the boy of Jesus even though they knew it might get them into trouble with the authorities.  They went to the tomb with spices to anoint the body of Jesus even though they knew the guards might ridicule them.  They went to the tomb with spices to anoint the body of Jesus even though they weren’t sure who was going to roll the stone away for them.

What you see in the women that morning is a wonderful example of agape love.  That’s a love that does what’s best for someone else.  It’s a love that is willing to go the extra mile for someone else.  It’s a love that is willing to make sacrifices because you know it will help someone else.

The women were motivated by a agape love. What you see in the disciples on the other hand is a good example of eros love.  That’s a love that focuses on you want.  So for example, when I say “I love chocolate,” that’s an eros kind of love.  It’s a give me kind of love.  It’s a love that doesn’t share and doesn’t really care about what other people may want or need.  You can see eros love everywhere you look these days.  When a perfectly healthy person parks in a handicap spot that’s an eros kind of love.  When a person leaves a shopping cart in the middle of a parking lot that’s an eros kind of love.  The other day the phone rang at the parsonage and when I answered it I experienced a moment of eros love.  The person asked to speak to George.  I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly and so I said, “Excuse me.”  The woman then said, “Who’s this?”  I replied, “Who are you calling?” The woman then said, “Oh this must be the wrong number” and hung up.  That is eros love.  It’s a love where the person focuses only on themselves.  Try holding a door for someone these days and see if the person even acknowledges the kindness by saying, “Thank you.”  Eros love, or self love, is all around us these days.  You can see it in the little things that happen and the big things that you see when you watch the evening news.

Well, it’s simple.  You won’t find the risen Jesus in those moments of eros love.  It is only in your moments of agape love that you will see and sense that the risen Christ is with you.  It is only in your moments of agape love that you’ll experience the excitement and the joy that the women experienced that morning when they went to the tomb with those spices to anoint the body of their friend.

The risen Christ was definitely present in a moment of agape love that unfolded several years ago at a 4-H auction. It all started when a 17-year-old girl by the name of Katie Fisher brought her lamb to the auction to earn a little money.  As she stood there with her lamb on stage, her mother hoped that Katie wouldn’t collapse.  You see Katie was battling cancer and it was her first time outside the hospital and away from the chemotherapy treatments in months.  It was a difficult for Katie to part with the lamb but she needed the money and lamb was selling for two dollars a pound.  Shortly after the bidding began, however, the auctioneer had a sudden inspiration.  “We sort of let folks know,” he said, “that Katie had a situation that wasn’t too pleasant.”  He hoped that his introduction would push the bidding up, at least a little bit.  Well, the lamb sold for $11.50 a pound, but things didn’t stop there.  The buyer paid up, then decided to give the lamb back so that it could be sold again.  That started a chain reaction, with families buying the animal and giving it back, over and over again.  When local businesses started buying and returning, the earnings really began to pile up.  The first sale is the only one Katie’s mom remembers.  After that, she was crying too hard as the crowd kept shouting, ‘Resell!  Resell!’  Katie’s lamb was sold 36 times that day, and the last buyer gave it back for good.  Katie ended up with more than $16,000 for a fund to pay her medical expenses - and she still got to keep her famous lamb.”  (Chicken Soup for the Soul v.4 pp.78-79)

It is in your moments of agape love that you will see and sense the presence of the risen Christ.  And when he is near you will experience the excitement and the joy that makes life worth living.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

March 23, 2008 – Easter Sunday